In Assassin's Creed Unity, which historic event forms the game's main backdrop?

In Assassin's Creed Unity, the French Revolution forms the game's main historical backdrop.

The story follows Arno Dorian through Paris during the upheaval that began in 1789. The period brought the collapse of France's absolute monarchy, violent political conflict, mass unrest, and major changes to the country's government. These events provide the setting for the game's fictional Assassin and Templar struggle.

The campaign visits recognizable locations including the Bastille, Notre-Dame, the Tuileries, and Versailles. Historical figures such as Maximilien Robespierre and Napoleon Bonaparte appear in the wider narrative, although the game's supernatural and conspiracy elements are fictional. The Paris map also combines real locations with gameplay-focused alterations.

Assassin's Creed Unity was released in 2014. It introduced a Paris-focused open world and cooperative missions for multiple players. A common mix-up is to identify the setting as the American Revolution, which belongs more directly to Assassin's Creed III. Unity's defining revolution is the one that transformed France at the end of the eighteenth century.